


The Seafoam in Your Eyes

by StarsForMars



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Folklore, Island life, M/M, Mild Blood, possible angst, sea creatures - Freeform, shameless plug lol, watch Wave MV for visuals
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-13
Updated: 2019-06-20
Packaged: 2020-05-07 07:21:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19204591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarsForMars/pseuds/StarsForMars
Summary: Hongjoong came to the island to forget about city life, at least for a little while. Warm breezes and long sunny days were ahead until a storm, and a person, crashes into his life. But not everyone has the luxury of time on their side.





	1. Wave

Kim Hongjoong was bored. 

 

The ceiling fan above him spun around lazily, hardly doing anything except keep the room from becoming too stifling to handle, just enough breeze to keep sweat from lingering. His fingers itched for his laptop; tucked away in his bag in the corner by the open window. There were samples he could be working on right now, but what was really bugging him was the lack of internet; Hongjoong desperately wanted to contact his producer about a phrase he wanted recorded in the studio. The island’s internet connection was entirely dependent on a satellite feed however, which had been lost ever since the typhoon that had rolled through a few days ago. The damage had luckily been minimal in the small beach town but some of the radio  towers in the mountains had been knocked over in the high winds. If Hongjoong had come here for a break from city life, he was definitely getting it now. 

 

So Hongjoong continued to laze about on his small bed in a rented cottage and watch the ceiling fan spin in endless circles, waiting for Yeosang to return.

 

Yeosang was one of his good friends from college, they’d spent their first two years together as dormroom neighbours, although their studies had been entirely different. Hongjoong had taken music production and management, Yeosang was into marine biology. It explained how they both ended up here, or at least partly anyway. Yeosang had come here to do some post grad research on the local fish and sea bird populations, and had offered Hongjoong to stay with him for a month after he’d complained in length one day (was it a text message or a novel?) that he needed to get away from the studio. Hongjoong had been kicked out by their head producer after he’d spent a week straight cooped up in the recording booth, sleep and all, citing concern for  _ all _ their sanity. Hongjoong took up the offer and booked the flight the very next day. 

 

It had only been a week and, storm excitement aside, he was beginning to feel cabin fever set in. There was taking a break, and then there was total isolation, and Hongjoong was starting to feel like this trip had become the latter. He could only make the twenty minute walk into town so many times, and the novelty of the beach had already worn off. So it seemed cat napping had become his new past time. 

 

“Joong?”

 

Hongjoong slid his eyes open, not sure when he’d dozed off. The sun had travelled across the room, it’s warmth shifting to late afternoon heat. 

 

“I wasn’t sleeping,” Hongjoong said, rubbing his eyes and running a hand throught his flaming red hair as he sat up to look at his friend. “Just thinking.”

 

“Sure,” Yeosang sounded more than unconvinced.

 

“See anything interesting today? If you did though, don’t go all science geek on me or I really will go to sleep.”

 

Yeosang scoffed, setting his backpack and gear down near his own bed against the far wall. “We saw some nesting thrushes but otherwise not really. We’re hoping we can get out on the boat tomorrow if the waves finally die down, it’s still pretty choppy out there.”

 

“Mmm,” Hongjoong acknowledged, eyes slipping closed again against his will. 

 

“Why don’t you come with us tomorrow? The whole time you’ve been here you haven’t gotten out on the water even once. Better than being holed up here all day.”

 

Hongjoong waved his hand non committedly, letting it flop back onto the quilt at his side. 

 

“Suit yourself.” 

 

Yeosang puttered around the room some more, putting away his equipment and digging out some fresh clothes. Just before he headed off to shower, he nudged Hongjoong’s shoulder. 

 

“‘Mm not asleep,” he drawled, trying to shake the hand off. 

 

“Good, cause we need some things for dinner, I didn’t have money with me earlier to stop on the way. Can you go up to the store?”

 

Hongjoong pushed himself up in answer, not really wanting too as laziness bore unto…. more laziness. But he was also starting to get hungry too. 

 

“Just pick up whatever, I’m not craving anything in particular.”

 

Hongjoong grabbed his wallet and phone (more so for music, his signal was minimal and there was no data plan here to speak of) and headed out the door. 

 

He flipped through his playlists as he walked along the road, gazing out at the ocean only a few hundred feet away. Despite the heat, it was a nice day, but he could see some darker clouds gathering on the horizon. Afternoon storms weren’t uncommon this time of year and usually rolled through quickly. If he hurried, he’d be back before it even started to cloud over. 

  
  
  
  


 

“Yo, Joong, long time no see!” The black haired boy behind the counter greeted. 

 

“You saw me yesterday, Wooyoung,” Hongjoong laughed. “Hardly a long time.”

 

Another boy, blond, poked his head out from around an aisle. “When you work here, it feels like a day is forever,” he whined. “You’re only our ninth customer today.”

 

“It was your idea, San,” Wooyoung shot back. “ _Let's go have an adventure,_ he said, and here we are working in a grocery store the size of my garage back home.”

 

San stuck his tongue out at him mockingly and then darted away when Wooyoung threw a wet rag at him.

 

Hongjoong smiled, grabbing a basket near the cash. He’d only met them a week ago but they already felt like fast friends. He’d learned that both boys had come here on their semester break. San’s uncle had a vacation home in the mountains and let them stay there in exchange for working at his store. 

 

“Yeosang stopped by earlier and bought some ice cream,” Wooyoung said absentmindedly as he organized the till. 

 

“That little…. He told me he didn’t have money with him so he made me come!”

 

“Probably just to get you out of that cottage.” San popped up again behind him, leaning on the handle of a mop. “Said you barely left the place.”

 

“It’s paradise here, you should get out more,” Wooyoung joined in. “Have an adventure!” He looked pointedly at San.

 

“Yeah yeah,” Hongjoong shrugged them off then went searching for dinner items. 

 

He got enough food to fill two bags in hopes of not having to make another trip again tomorrow, and then began the trek back up the road towards the cottage. Wooyoung and San were right. The island was beautiful and lush, the beach a vibrant blue with soft white sand. It’s amazing there weren’t more tourists here. There were a few resorts on the other side of the island but this side was largely just locals and vacation home owners. A small gem in the middle of the Pacific. 

 

As if in realization of this fact, Hongjoong veered off the road and through the low grass until he hit the sand, walking along the beach instead. The breeze had picked up, still warm, but with the scent of ozone in the air. The clouds in the distance had gotten closer and were looking rather angry; not typhoon level again, but a decent thunderstorm was on the way. Within another few minutes, the first raindrop hit his cheek. 

 

Rather than return to the safety of the road, Hongjoong continued through the sand. He’d slipped his sandals off, enjoying the way the trapped warmth of the sun wrapped around his feet as rain drops plopped on his head. The increasing sound of the crashing surf and the energy in the air finally allowed his mind to wander beyond just his work. This was so different from his daily life, the hubbub of a busy city, the constant sound of construction, traffic and people. There was just no space back home, nowhere to think. Now it was just him and the earth and he finally felt the cloud of jumbled thoughts and worries fading into the background. 

 

By the time he reached the end of the beach proper, when sharper rocks and shells started poking into his feet, the rain had gotten thicker. Hongjoong’s clothes were soaked and clung to his small frame but it felt good after such a hot day. He set his bags down to put his shoes back on, then shook the water from his hair. 

 

_ There. White.  _

 

Something caught Hongjoong’s eye in an outcrop of rocks. He squinted, thinking it was just a crashing wave, white foam. He took a step closer. No, it was certainly something there in the rocks, a downed bird or perhaps a beached animal. Yeosang would want to know. 

 

Hongjoong set his groceries down beneath a larger rock, hoping they wouldn’t get more wet than they already were, and then carefully made his way towards the thing. The rocks were slick from rain and sea water and an alarm bell went off in his mind, but he needed to know what he saw.

 

His foot slipped and he caught himself, a sharp rock slicing the palm of his hand. Hongjoong gasped.  _ Just turn back, don’t be so stupid. _

 

Was that…… a foot?

 

Hongjoong’s stomach dropped. A body, it was a body.  _ Leave right now. _

 

He inched forward, stinging hand clenched in his shirt. 

 

It was indeed a body, tangled in seaweed, pale from cold. 

 

“Shit,” Hongjoong breathed. “Shit shit  _ shit _ …”

 

He stumbled back. The body moved, breathed. 

 

The rain was still coming down so Hongjoong didn’t see it at first, he thought it was just more seaweed, but there, at this…. _ person’ _ s waist, was a jagged gash, blood running onto slick rock.

 

Against everything in him telling him not to, Hongjoong moved forward, carefully navigating the rest of the way over the rocks to them. They needed help. 

 

He was naked. Hongjoong realized that as he got closer, but the adrenaline pumping in his veins kept him from really thinking about it. It was a man...boy? His skin was smooth, wet hair covering closed eyes, he looked young, but his features were strong. It was perhaps the most beautiful face Hongjoong had ever seen. 

 

“Hey,” Hongjoong called out over the noise of the storm. It really was getting worse. “Hey, can you hear me?”

 

They made no answer. 

 

Hongjoong crouched, reaching out his good hand to brush away their hair, and then he wasn’t sure what else. Check for a pulse? Breathing? 

 

Something slammed into him so hard that his lungs shook, breath knocked from him and stars bursting in his vision. A hand was around his throat. 

 

Hongjoong’s senses were overloaded, pain everywhere, no air. He tried to breathe, gasp, anything at all. The pressure around his neck released and he inhaled hard, dizzy from the impact. Eyes the colour of seafoam peered at him.

 

And then the wave hit. 


	2. Blue

Hongjoong breathed. Deep lungfuls of air expelling water in choking bursts. His throat and nose burned with salt, making him want to vomit. 

 

Rain was still pelting his face, the ground beneath him cold and wet. He tried to open his eyes but his vision blurred painfully red. He still saw them though, those piercing eyes, shifting like the currents. 

 

His head hurt. So he let his own fall closed again, slipping back into the tumbling darkness. 

  
  
  
  
  


“Shouldn’t he be up by now?”

 

“It’s only been a couple hours, and the storm knocked out cell service again. We’ll just have to wait..”

 

Hongjoong recognized Yeosang’s voice as he woke, tinged with a worry he hadn’t heard before. His head immediately started pounding, the throbbing most intense above his left eye. But he was warm now, and dry. Painfully, he opened his eyes. 

 

“Oh, thank god,” Yeosang said, leaning over and into his line of sight. 

 

Hongjoong blinked, trying to register where he was, quickly noting he was in his own bed at the cottage. Yeosang was sitting on the edge of the mattress and his coworker, Yunho, was standing behind him. 

 

“Jesus, Hongjoong,” Yeosang said again. “Are you alright? What happened?”

 

Hongjoong coughed, throat still raw. He wasn’t quite sure himself and Yeosang didn’t give him time to answer. 

 

“How many fingers am I holding up?”

 

He waved three fingers in front of his face. 

 

“Three, Yeo...my head hurts though, can you please stop.”

 

Yeosang sighed as Yunho stepped forward. “You’ve got quite a bump on your forehead. You’re lucky, I was just driving out here to drop off Yeosang’s reports that he forgot in my truck. I saw you out on the beach, your hair stood right out…”

 

“What happened?” His friend asked again. 

 

Hongjoong lifted his hand, noticing the bandage wrapped around it, and felt another bandage on his head where the pain was originating. “I was walking home when the storm hit, on the beach.” Hongjoong scrunched his face as he tried to remember. “I was about to get back on the road when I saw something on the rocks. I thought it was an animal you could help. But it was-...”

 

“What?”

 

Hongjoong breathed sharply as the image came back to him. “A…...a person. It was a person. Bleeding. I went to help them but, a wave came. It must have knocked me off the rocks…..”

 

Eyes. A thousand shades of blue. Choking. 

 

“Hongjoong?”

 

“Huh?”

 

Yeosang was looking at him intensely. “Another person?”

 

“Mmmm. They were naked.”

 

Yunho coughed. It sounded suspiciously like a laugh. Yeosang turned back with a glare and the taller sheepishly backed away towards the door. “I didn’t see anyone else, especially naked, and no one should have been out in this weather anyway. I don’t even know why I decided to bring you your work tonight. Good thing though or this might not have turned out so-”

 

“Jeong Yunho,” Yeosang cut him off. 

 

“Right. Well, I’ll be going now then, I hope you feel better, Hongjoong.”

 

Hongjoong watched him leave as Yeosang turned back.

 

“You really saw someone else out there?”

 

“Yeah…..I think…..” _ Did he _ ?

 

“Hmm. You really must have rattled around that brain more than I thought.”

 

Yeosang didn’t believe him. 

 

“Yeah, maybe…”

 

“Get some rest. I’m going to call a doctor as soon as I get service again.”

 

“No! No, I’m fine. I have a killer headache but I can deal.”  _ They’re going to think I’m crazy _ .

 

“We’ll see in the morning.” Yeosang got up and moved towards the door. “By the way, the groceries are gone. It’s instant soup for dinner and you owe me $15.”

 

“ _ Seriously? _ ” Hongjoong whined. “I almost died and you want my money? Ruthless.”

 

Yeosang flashed him an overly innocent smile as Hongjoong gaped and tried to remember how they ended up best friends in the first place. 

  
  
  
  


 

Days passed, Hongjoong’s wounds scabbing over, making him look like he was on the losing end with a feral cat. But otherwise things went back to normal. 

 

Yeosang was out on the boat almost every day now, tagging fish or doing whatever it was he and his team did. Hongjoong got tired of the cottage and ended up spending more and more time with San and Wooyoung at the store. They didn’t make him work but if he offered to straighten up shelves, they’d sneak him an ice cream or two. They’d sit out in the back during their breaks, sloppily licking at their cones before it melted down their hands. 

 

When they weren’t manning the store, they hung out at an abandoned skate park nearby. San had found an old skateboard in the store’s storage rooms and they took turns riding it around the half pipes or just sitting on the rails and chatting. 

 

One thing was for sure, Hongjoong’s recent brush with death was an endless topic. 

 

“How big was the wave again? I asked around and no one has seen any bigger than thirteen feet in the last decade here,” San said while sitting on the skateboard and pushing himself back and forth. 

 

“I didn’t see it, I was facing the rocks.”

 

“But big enough to wash you out to sea?” Wooyoung added. 

 

“I guess…”

 

The three then sat in comfortable silence, a rare occurrence, as the noon sun beat down on their heads. 

 

“You know,” San interrupted the moment. “Our inventory hasn’t been adding up lately.”

 

“What does that have to do with anything?” Wooyoung stated. San rolled over on the board and flicked his forehead.

 

“Stuff has gone missing. But no one has seen anybody unusual around and I don’t think anyone we know would be stealing such random crap.”

 

“Like what?” Hongjoong perked up.

 

“Just stuff, a box of bandaids, some fishing line, some bottles of cola.”

 

“Ahem,” Wooyoung cleared his throat. “The cola might have been me….”

 

San eyed him then smirked and fell into some handshake with Wooyoung that Hongjoong could still not seem to follow. 

 

Hongjoong’s memory flashed. The boy had been injured, a sizeable wound on his side…

 

“Do you think it’s your fish boy?” San asked, as if he could read Hongjoong’s mind. 

 

Hongjoong shook his head, both in answer and to clear the image from his brain. A bump on the head and too much sea water, the doctor has said over the phone. It wasn’t real. 

 

Soon after, the two boys headed back to the store and Hongjoong was left to his own devices. He wasn’t sure where he was headed but his feet took him back to the beach. It was bright out, sunny, not a cloud in the sky. No danger of rogue waves or fish people. 

 

He walked along, letting the soft eb and flow of the ocean lap at his feet. He headed down towards the rocks. They weren’t so menacing now. He easily crawled up and looked around. There was nothing more than a few tide pools and washed up driftwood. It wasn’t real. 

  
  
  
  
  


“Yeosang?”

 

“Mm?”

 

“You’re a marine biologist right?”

 

“Trying to be,” Yeosong looked up from his papers. If that was not a hint that he needed quiet, then Hongjoong didn’t know what was.

 

“Nevermind.”

 

Yeosang shuffled his reports and slipped them back into his file. “What did you want to ask? I’m finished for now anyway, I’m hungry.”

 

“Well…,” Now Hongjoong just felt stupid. “Fish people. Mermaids. Do you know anything about them?”

 

“No more than you, from fairy tales.”

 

Yeosang looked up and then tried to contain a laugh. 

 

“What?” Hongjoong said. “I’m serious.”

 

“No no, it’s just I was about to say, mermaid as in the little red-headed one. Your hair….”

 

Hongjoong spluttered, quickly wiping his mouth with his sleeve. 

 

“Should I start calling you, Ariel?”

 

“Shut up, Yeosang.” 

 

The younger burst into snickers as Hongjoong got up in a huff.  

 

“Just nevermind, it’s not real.” Hongjoong dug in his pocket and pulled out a few bills. “Here’s you money. I’ll be in our room, call me when dinner is ready.”

 

Yeosang’s laugh followed him all the way out. 

  
  
  
  
  


Hongjoong couldn’t sleep that night, so after days of not having touched it, he dug his laptop out and slid his headphones on. There was still no internet connection but he felt like messing around with his mixing program. He arranged beats, adding crashes and hits here and there, the satisfying sound of a piece coming together keeping him from checking the time. With his expensive, noise cancelling headphones on, he didn’t realize that another storm had blew in across the island until a flash of lightning lit up the room and made him jump in his bed. 

 

He pulled off his headphones and looked to Yeosang who was still fast asleep in the other bed, then got up to look out the window. The rain was coming down in sheets, and Hongjoong could barely make out the road. 

There was no lightning, but there was a thump. Hongjoong felt the back of his neck prickle. 

 

“Yeosang,” he whispered harshly, “did you hear that?”

 

Yeosang groaned, “jus’ the storm, go back t’ bed," and turned over to face the wall. 

 

A crack of lightning, the deep roll of thunder and then another, muted thump. 

 

_ Not again.  _

 

Hongjoong’s heartbeat fluttered in his chest as his body moved towards the stairs. He crept down them slowly, their rickety creaking adding to the atmosphere. A part of him wanted to just laugh at how cliche this all was. He half expected there to be an axe murderer on their porc-

 

Thump. 

 

“Fuck!”

 

Before he chickened out completely, Hongjoong rushed over to the cottage door and peered out the window. There was a dark figure on their stairs. It moved and Hongjoong froze. 

 

A hand reached out, grasping the top stair and pulling the figure upward. It moved slowly, almost...struggling?

 

Hongjoong was barely breathing at this point, too fascinated to move yet too frightened to actually do anything. The figure,  _ person _ made to stand but couldn’t seem to do so. One hand was trying to steady itself against the railing while the other seemed to be clutching at something close to him. They lifted their hooded head and Hongjoong was struck dumb on the other side of the glass. 

 

Blue eyes met brown. 

 

“Help me,” they said. And then crumpled to the ground. 

 


	3. Blood

“Yeosaaaaaang! Yeosang Yeosang  _ Yeosang _ !!”

 

Hongjoong bounded back through the cottage, leaping stairs two at a time and crashed through the bedroom door. 

 

“Yeosang, wake  _ up _ !”

 

“Jesus christ, Hongjoong!” Yeosang bolted up, hair askew and looking like someone was yelling fire. “What the hell?”

 

“He’s outside! On the porch. The person I saw. He’s hurt,  _ please _ , get up we need to help him!”

 

Yeosang closed his eyes a moment, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I thought we established that this was just a figment of you rock addled brain. He’s not re-”

 

“Real or not, someone just collapsed on our deck, now get your fucking ass out of bed and  _ help me _ !”

 

Yeosang tossed the covers aside with annoyance as Hongjoong rushed back out of the room and down the stairs. He ran to the front door, opening it, not sure if he was wishing they were still there or that this really was just his mind messing with him. 

 

“Oh my god,” Yeosang breathed behind him, eyes falling on the boy. 

 

They didn’t waste anymore time as both ran out into the rain, each taking an arm and dragging the deadweight of their guest into the cottage. A small trail of blood followed.

 

“He didn’t look so tall outside,” Hongjoong said as they maneuvered him up the stairs. “He’s heavy.”

 

“You’ve clearly had more time to process this than I have,” Yeosang said in disbelief. 

 

His feet clunked against the last few stairs and then they were pulling him into their room, Yeosang guiding them to Hongjoong’s bed. And for a moment after, there was silence, save for the huffing of Hongjoong and Yeosang, and the laboured breathing of the boy between them.

 

“What the fuck,” Yeosang whispered again, staring down. “What the fuck….”

 

Hongjoong sprung into action, his mind working more acutely this time around. “Get towels, he’s soaking wet. And the first aid kit, I think it’s under the sink in the bathroom.”

 

Yeosang nodded and went on the hunt while Hongjoong remained, hesitating only a second more before moving to peel away the water logged clothing. 

 

Bile rose in Hongjoong’s throat when he lifted the black hoodie away. He’d found the stolen fishing line. “Yeo-...Yeosang?”

 

Yeosang came back into the room with the supplies and nearly dropped them at what he saw. 

 

“Did he do that himself?” His knees wobbled. 

 

On the boy’s side, above his hip, was a crude line of stitching, thick fishing line breaking reddened skin and holding together what looked to be a bite mark that had torn through flesh and muscle.

 

Hongjoong felt like he was going to pass out.

 

Yeosang collected himself and looked closer. “What have you done…”

  
  
  
  
  


In mutual silent agreement, they left the wound alone for now and got the boy out of his wet clothes and into a pair of Yeosang’s shorts. His arms were littered with scrapes and scratches, like he’d been defending himself, and a yellowing bruise had bloomed on his chest. His face was relatively unmarred except for a small cut near his hairline that already looked partially healed. The attack, or whatever he’d been through, hadn’t been recent. 

 

He’d remained unconscious as they worked around him, Hongjoong occasionally checking to make sure he was still breathing. The two discovered quickly that his rain dampened skin had been hiding a burning fever, no doubt from the wound at his side. 

 

Ah, that. 

 

“What do we do now?” Hongjoong sighed, sitting for a moment with knees tucked up to keep himself from shaking. “We can’t treat that ourselves.”

 

“The hospital is on the mainland, no boats will be going in this weather.”

 

“What about your boat? For your research?”

 

“Are you kidding? The captain would have my head.”

 

They both sighed. 

 

“It’ll kill him if we don’t do something.”

 

“And it might if we do,” Yeosang said flatly. 

 

“I signed up for a vacation, not accessory to murder,” Hongjoong joked in return to break the mood. “But I think we should try, anything would be better than this.”

 

“Will you do the honours?” Yeosang smirked. 

 

“Of course not, do I look like a doctor? No way. At least you have a biology degree.”

 

Yeosang inhaled slowly and let it out, then reached for the sewing kit he’d grabbed with the other supplies. 

 

“Pass me the rubbing alcohol.”

 

Hongjoong did as he was told. Silence fell over them again as Yeosang cleaned everything, trying to steady his shaking hands. 

 

“He’s fish boy, remember, just think of him as one of your species.”

 

Yeosang snorted. “If only.”

 

To their benefit, the boy was too far gone, too weak from blood loss and fever to feel anything. They found out quickly they needed wire cutters for the fishing line, Hongjoong running to the bathroom to gag more than once during the process of removing it. Stitching the wound back up with proper thread was no easier, but Yeosang got better at it as he went, focusing on the tiny details in front of him rather than the larger picture of what he was doing. 

 

“And…..done.” Yeosang snipped the last piece of thread and admired his work. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible. The wound looked cleaner now and was closed better. He crossed his fingers that it held. 

 

Hongjoong clapped him on the back. “You should consider a career change, Dr. Kang.”

 

“I think that was enough for one lifetime, thanks.”

 

Yeosang cleaned up the rest of the blood that had trickled down the boys side and then they pulled the sheets up over him. Everything seemed more manageable covered. 

 

“Were there any acetaminophen tablets in there?” Yeosang asked. “For his fever.”

 

“Yeah, I saw some, hold on.”

 

Hongjoong poured out two pills and got a glass of water. Yeosang lifted the boy up slightly and Hongjoong dumped them into his mouth, pouring some water in and then holding his mouth closed, hoping he’d reflexively swallow. When he did, they both sighed in relief. 

 

“Good, Fish Boy,” Hongjoong mused. 

 

The storm had died down and the world seemed more quiet now. Yeosang settled back into his bed and Hongjoong had gathered some cushions on the floor. Neither could sleep though. 

 

“I noticed something, when I was stitching him up,” Yeosang spoke quietly. “That bite mark. My first thought was a shark, a small species, but it actually looked more mammalian.”

 

“You’re using science speak again,” Hongjoong whispered back.

 

“Mammalian, mammal. Not a fish.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“It looked like a seal bite, but seals usually don’t come this far south.”

 

“Dolphin?”

 

“No, theirs are narrower.”

 

“Well whatever it is, he’s damn lucky. He’s had that bite since I saw him the first time. I didn’t know how bad it was then.”

 

“Don’t speak too soon.”

 

It was a harsh reminder. They could have a dead body on their hands in the morning. 

 

Hongjoong reached a hand up over the edge of his mattress, seeking out heated skin. He found the hand and wrapped his own around it, fingertips feeling for a pulse at the wrist. It was there, faint, but it was there. 

 

_ Please stay alive. _

 

In the days that had followed Hongjoong’s ‘accident’, he had wondered if the person he had seen had tried to kill him, the ghost feeling of a hand around his throat, unable to take in air. And then the wave crashing down on him. But the more he thought about it, it felt wrong. This boy had been severely injured, had probably awoken cold and scared on the rocks, a stranger hovering. And even after all that….

 

Hongjoong began to believe it was  _ he _ who had saved him, got him out of the water and onto the beach. It was the only way, he would have been swept out to sea other wise. 

 

Yes, this boy had to live, and Hongjoong was going to do everything in his power to make sure of it.

  
  
  
  
  


A pained cry woke Hongjoong from sleep and he shot up, eyes snapping to his bed. The boy was writhing weakly, a sheen of sweat on his skin, hair damp with it. Yeosang was apparently a heavier sleeper, his soft breathing still even and slow. 

 

Hongjoong got up, rubbing his neck as he looked down at their guest. He wasn’t awake, but he was moaning, hands clenching and unclenching the sheets at his side. He didn’t need to touch him to know the fever was raging but he did anyway, still shocked at just how hot he was. He tiptoed quickly to the bathroom and ran a cloth under cold water, returning with it to lay on the boy’s forehead. Instantly he seemed soothed, enough so that he at least stopped squirming, hands going slack. Hongjoong hazarded a guess that they were going to need antibiotics on top of the painkillers if they wanted to make better progress and give him a fighting chance. 

 

He slumped into a chair and glanced at the clock. 4:39AM. A couple hours and the sun would be up. He’d go to the store as soon as it opened, they had a small stock of more necessary medicines on hand for emergencies. 

 

“Fight through it, Fish Boy, just a few more hours.”

 

Hongjoong felt guilty calling him that, he probably had a quite normal name, but this nickname had stuck. 

 

Within a few minutes, the boy twitched again, the cloth falling off. Hongjoong rinsed it cool and placed it back. 

 

And this time he took his hand. It was larger than Hongjoong’s but still narrow and elegant. He held it carefully, just enough that maybe he would know someone was there. 

 

Hongjoong must have dozed off again like that because he was pulled awake by nails scratching into his palm.

 

The boy’s eyes were open, glazed and dull. But blue. Not as clear as normal, more like the ocean before the sun hits it in the morning. 

 

“Hey,” Hongjoong whispered, waiting for a response. Nothing. He leaned over. 

 

Blue eyes shifted.

 

“Are you okay?” 

 

Still no answer. Maybe he was dreaming with his eyes open. 

 

“You’re in our cottage. You’re hurt,” Hongjoong tried anyway. “What’s your name?”

 

The boy blinked slowly. Clarity returned for a moment. 

 

“S….”

 

It was barely a whisper. Hongjoong had to lean even closer to hear. 

 

“S…...Seong…..hwa.”

 

“Seonghwa?”

 

The boy, Seonghwa, blinked tiredly, then let his eyes slip closed again. 

 

“You’ll be okay, Seonghwa, we’ll take you to a hospital as soon as a boat can get out.”

 

“ _ No _ !”

 

Hongjoong jumped. The blue eyes were back, molting shades of cerulean. 

 

“No!...” Seonghwa repeated, the sudden burst of energy already fading. 

 

“No? But you need help, a doctor…”

 

“N..not…..hu...man…”

 

Hongjoong furrowed his brow. Did he hear that correctly?

 

Seonghwa was already falling back into sleep, eyes closed, tensed muscles relaxing.

 

“I’m...not human.”

 

Hongjoong nearly fell off his chair. 

  
  
  



End file.
